Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions about CryptoCoin.cc

What is CryptoCoin.cc?

The CryptoCoin.cc website was first published on 1 December 2014. It is a sister project of DistroWatch.com (a popular online resource for news and information about free and open-source computer operating systems), reusing much of that site's PHP/SQL code. It was conceived out of the same desire as DistroWatch.com was back in 2001 - to create a database of cryptocurrencies and organise them in a logical and searchable manner. This way, people looking for information about the growing number of alternative cryptocoins (or "altcoins", as they've become known) will have a one-stop resource referencing the software behind these digital currencies.

Why another Bitcoin/altcoin/cryptocoin site?

While there are indeed many websites about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on the Internet, many seem to focus on the financial and investment aspects of these revolutionary payment systems. In contrast, CryptoCoin.cc intends to present the technical angle of the software powering the ever increasing number of cryptocurrencies. This approach should complement the vast amount of financial information available elsewhere - by delivering information about special features and software innovation present in cryptocurrency software.

What's the point of all these "altcoins"?

Life would indeed be much simpler without choices, but it wouldn't be as much fun. Although Bitcoin is by far the best known and most dominant cryptocurrency on the market today, it suffers from several problems, including known vulnerabilities, slow transaction processing, an already huge size of its blockchain, and its perceived association with sites selling illegal goods. Some of the altcoins that forked Bitcoin in the last few years have implemented many interesting innovations, such as increase in transaction processing speeds, significant security improvements or stronger privacy and anonymity features. As such, they are worth keeping an eye on. If it happens some day that a newcomer to the market overtakes its master, it certainly won't be the first time in the history of software development. Besides, watching all the innovation taking place on the blockchain (and beyond) is exciting and fun too!

Do you believe that bitcoin has future?

I won't make any predictions. There have been plenty of them already - the world has seemingly produced an enormous number of "experts", on either side of the spectrum, who know exactly where Bitcoin is heading. But instead of thinking about the future of cryptocurrencies, we should rather look at the facts: Bitcoin exists, it can be used to buy goods and services, it can be traded for many altcoins, and it can be exchanged for dollars and euros and yuans and rupees. Yes, I do like the idea of an alternative currency, especially a decentralised one - if for no other reason than to give the increasingly irresponsible central bankers a run for their money.

Where do you get the exchange rates from?

Although CryptoCoin.cc intends to focus more on the software side of cryptocurrencies, we won't completely ignore their financial and investment aspects either. As such, you'll find the latest exchange rates on each cryptocurrency's page (provided that it trades on an exchange). We use rates from nine popular altcoin exchanges (AllCoin, Bittrex, Bleutrade, Bter, CCEDK, C-CEX, Comkort, Cryptsy and Poloniex) which are retrieved by a script once every 20 minutes. If a coin is traded on several exchanges then the quote provided by the largest of them (in terms of volume traded) is given. Besides the exchange rate quotes of individual altcoins, we'll also provide the latest exchange rates for four popular cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Litecoin, DASH and Dogecoin) in the main navigation bar that appears on the top of each page. The USD rates are updated from Cryptsy, while Bitcoin's EUR rate is obtained from Bitcoin.de - both are updated every 20 minutes. For visitors coming from countries that don't use either USD or EUR we also provide a Bitcoin exchange rate in the local currency - this is a simple currency conversion based on exchange rates obtained from OpenExchangeRates.org once per day.